The invention relates to a model head for the creation of coiffures, with a base part and at least one hair carrier part detachably joined with the base part, which carrier part has an outer surface substantially corresponding in form to a haired skin section on the head of the person, on which hair is arranged. A modified version of the invention includes a face mask selected from a number of face masks interchangeable with one another having different face forms, which is detachably joined with the base part.

Model heads, as shown in West German utility model De- gb 83 13 884.6 are known. In the model head of that patent there is provided only a single hair carrier part, the outer surface of which corresponds to the haired head skin of the person. The hair carrier part has a cap of elastic material similar to a bathing cap, which is removably placed on the base part. On the outer surface of this cap there are detachably arranged several individually changeable hair parts which consist in each case of a foil into which the hair is installed. Between the foil of the particular hair part and the cap there are provided connecting means for the detachable fastening of the respective hair part to the cap of the hair carrier part. When the hair carrier part is arranged on the base part there is present between the outer surface of the hair carrier part and the outer surface of the base part a certain distance determined by the thickness of the cap, the foil and the connecting means , which makes the transition between the hair carrier part and the base part stepwise. Similarly, model heads made of a soft plastic material may have hair pieces pinned to hair carrier parts as desired.

With the aid prior-known types of model heads, the hairdresser in the counseling of a client, through selection of suitable hair parts, their emplacing on the head or cap of the hair carrier part and possibly by subsequent exchanging of individual hair parts can create

and present to her a model coiffure attuned to the customer, in which process for the demonstration he can either leave the hair carrier part with the arranged coiffure on the model head or place it like a wig on the client. The creation and the alteration of a coiffure and the modification of the hair color on the model head is possible only by the selection and the exchanging of the hair parts on the entire form. The prior-known model heads are not suited for carrying out hair treatment techniques, such as cutting, drying, laying-in, trimming, permanent waves and dyeing on the model head for purposes of learning and instruction. In particular, the stepwise transition between the hair carrier part and the base part and the detachable arrangement of the hair on the hair carrier part stand in the way of the use of the prior-known model head for the execution of hair treatment techniques.

Hitherto hairdressing techniques for purposes of teaching and learning have been carried out mainly on living models, who, however, are not always available and, moreover, are expensive. Furthermore there are only few who are willing to let their hair be treated only according to the ideas and wishes of others, under some circumstances wrongly and under severe stress. Furthermore, living models have in each case different hairdos and physical hair characteristics which require an adaptation of the particular hairdressing technique. A uniform execution of hairdressing techniques with living models, therefore, is hardly possibly.

As a substitute for living models there have long been used also artificial heads that are provided with hair in a region corresponding to the haired head skin of the person, which hair is joined solidly with the part of the artificial head corresponding to the natural head skin. In dependence on the type of hairdressing technique carried out, these artificial heads can be used only once or at most a few days

and must then be exchanged with new hair that is still untreated. The use of such artificial heads for the learning and teaching of hairdressing techniques involves considerable costs. Furthermore, these artificial heads have the disadvantage that the hairs protrude unnaturally from the head at an angle of about 90 , because the form, size or material of the artificial head do not permit an arrangement of the hair corresponding to natural pilosity.

A further alternative to living models are haired bathing cap-like parts of elastic material which are placed on bald synthetic heads and have to be exchanged for new still untreated hair when the pilosity no longer meets the conditions for a further hair treatment. A substantial disadvantage of these caps lies in that between the cap and the artificial head, by reason of the thickness of the material of the cap, a stepwise transition is yielded which is cumbersome especially in the cutting and trimming. Furthermore, because of their elasticity, these caps cannot be haired up to the edge, so that a hairless border section results which prevents the lay of the hair on the rest of the head in correspondence to the natural pilosity.

Likewise, it is further a known practice on the face section of such a model head known from the aforementioned utility model to apply detachably a face mask that consists of a thin-walled flexible shell. A face mask is detachably joined, for example by adhesive strips, with the base part of the model head, the face mask being chosen from a number of interchangeable face masks presenting different face forms. When used with a model head for teaching and learning purposes, the coiffure to be created can be adapted to the face form prescribed by the selected face mask, in order thereby to achieve a suitable combination of hair styling and face form.

The face masks can also be made up, so that the

coiffure is adaptable to the facial expression or, conversely, the face expression to the coiffure.

The problem lies in developing a model head that can be used again and again for the execution of differing hairdressing techniques for learning and teaching purposes as economically as possible, while maintaining both the pilosity and the transition between the hairy and the of the head as close as possible to natural and providing simultaneously for various types of pilosity. 0 In addition, a further problem arises when a face mask is used, since the base part is constant in form, size and dimension, but the face masks have different forms and sizes. The face masks used in the past stood so far off from the base part that a fastening of the face masks to the 5 base part was difficult or the execution of hairdressing techniques on the hair-carrier part was impaired as a result of the overhang of the face masks.

The problems set forth are solved by this invention which is a model head having a hair carrier part which 0 consists essentially of a body of stable form which may be detachably mounted in a recess in a base part. The upper border of the recess follows essentially the contour of the mating or outer surface of the hair carrier part. The mating surfaces of the hair carrier part and the base part 5 thereby may be brought essentially flush with one another. The hair is firmly joined with the hair carrier part. The above invention may or may not include the novel means for mounting a face mask as described herein. The modified embodiment of this invention including such detachable face 0 masks overcomes prior problems by developing the model head in such a way that all sizes and forms of face masks have a better hold on the base part of the model head and the execution of hairdressing or hairstyling is not impaired by any of the sizes of face masks standing by for selection.

In this modified embodiment the face mask consists of a substantially form-stable body which is inserted in a recess in the base part, in which process it is detachably joined with the base part and the hair-carrier part by, in each case, a projection engaging into a recess.

The model head of this invention has the advantage that all hairdressing techniques can be carried out in the same manner as on the living model, it being possible by exchange of the haired hair carrier parts, for the model head to be brought again and again into a state in which it fully fulfills the preconditions for the feasibility of the particular hairdressing technique. The use of a hair carrier part of stable form makes possible an arrangement of hair having different colors, style and growth patterns, almost exactly as occurs in a human being. Furthermore, the hair of the model head can withstand the tensile stress arising in the cutting, drying or trimming without being detached from the head. The smooth transition between the hair carrier part and the base part makes possible a natural fall of the hair, and avoids, furthermore, any catching or misuse of the hairstyling apparatuses and tools which are required in the various hair treatments .

The model head of this invention presents, for the training of hairdressers, a full replacement for living models, it being available additionally at any time and without time limitation for the teachers or students. After the initial investment costs, relatively low subsequent costs are required for the acquisition of new hair carrier parts as replacements for the used-up hair carrier parts. The model head of this invention can have a single hair carrier part which has an outer surface corresponding in form substantially to the haired head skin of the person. Instead of the head hair carrier part or in addition to this, the model head of the invention, however, may also have a beard carrier part which has an outer surface

corresponding in form substantially to the face skin carrying the beard hair in the man, which is haired in correspondence to the beard form (moustache, full beard, . etc. ) . When the model head of this invention has a head hair carrier part and a beard carrier part, according to a further development of the invention, the base part has two related recesses into which the two hair carrier parts are detachably installed. The two hair carrier parts bound on one another in two places and their outer surfaces are flush with one another in these two places. The range of use of the model head of the invention is much enlarged if it presents, in addition to a head hair carrier part, a beard carrier part which, like the head hair carrier part, is exchangeable for a new one when it has fulfilled its purpose.

According to a further development of the invention, there is provided a pair of further hair carrier parts , each of which has an outer surface corresponding in form essentially to a respective eyebrow, and the base part has two further recesses into which there is installed detachably the pair of further hair carrier parts . Through the use of exchangeable eyebrow carrier parts there is opened up the possibility of designing the head hair coiffure and/or the beard with consideration of the form and color of the eyebrows .

The hair can be fastened directly to the body of the hair carrier part concerned. Preferably, however, the hair is fastened to a flexible foil which is itself firmly joined by gluing, radiofrequency sealing or similar techniques with the body of the respective hair carrier part. The use of a foil to which the hair is fastened and which, together with the hair, is. firmly joined with the body of the respective hair carrier part facilitates the arrangement of the hair in correspondence to the natural conditions. As is well known.

the natural course of the hair in the crown region is different than on the side of the head, where the hair as a rule lies flat on the head skin. Also the density of the hair differs on different parts of the head. Differing course and differing density of the hair can be better recreated with use of a foil.

So that the hair carrier parts will have a good seating and a seating remaining the same after a change on the base part, it is advantageous if the hair carrier part or parts and the base part are detachably joined with one another by projections engaging in depressions, and if the projections and the depressions on the base part and on the hair carrier part or parts are arranged outside their outer surface. Through the fact that the projections and the depressions on the hair carrier part and the base part are not arranged visibly from outside, they are not troublesome for a person carrying out a hair treatment either.

The face mask, likewise, can now, with constantly good hold, be rapidly changed and has itself a high rigidity, which contributes to the result that the face mask no longer causes any trouble in the hair treatment, is easy to make up and makes the model head still more realistic.

The stability of the face masks is improved, according a further development of the invention, by the means that each face mask has a border bent inward essentially twice.

The fastening and releasing of the face masks , according to a further development of the invention, becomes especially simple when there are provided two projections constructed as hooks, of which the one is made in one piece on the hair-carrier part and engages into a recess in the face mask and the other is made in one piece on the face mask opposite the recess and engages into a recess in the base part.

Preferably the base part and the body of the hair carrier part or parts and the face mask are made of the same

material, so that by reason of like material properties the base part and the hair carrier part or parts behave identically, for example under the influence of heat, and exchanged hair carrier parts fit on the base part just as well as the first hair carrier parts .

An example of execution of the invention is shown in the drawings and is described in detail in the following: Figure 1 shows a side view of the model head of the invention in a state in which the hair carrier parts are joined with the base part, in which however the hair carrier parts are shown without pilosity. Figure 2 shows a front view of the model head represented in

Figure 1. Figure 3 shows a side cross-sectional view of the head hair carrier part, taken generally along center line A in Figure 2. Figure 4 shows a side cross-sectional view of the beard carrier part taken generally along center line A in Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows a side cross-section view of the base part taken generally along center line A in Figure 2. Figure 6 shows a part of one of the hair carrier parts in enlarged representation, there being visible the foil fastened to the body of the hair carrier part with hair attached to it. Figure 7 shows a side view of the model head of the modified embodiment of the invention, in which the model head is assembled completely with hair- carrier part and face mask. Figure 8 shows a side view of the model head shown in Figure

7 , in which only the hair-carrier part is fastened to the base part, while the face mask is omitted.

Figure 9 shows a vertical section through a face mask and a section of the base part of the model head shown in Figure 7.

As seen in Figure 1, a model head 100 according to one embodiment of the invention consists of a base part 1 and a desired number of hair carrier parts. In this case four such parts are shown, namely, a head hair carrier part 2, a beard carrier part 3, and two eyebrow parts 4. These hair carrier parts present, in each case, an outer surface 20 which corresponds in form essentially to the form of the haired head skin of the human being. The beard carrier part

3 has an outer surface that corresponds to the form of the face skin carrying beard hair in the man, with the unhaired mouth region, however, forming a part of this outer surface. Correspondingly, the eyebrow parts 4 have in each case an outer surface that corresponds to the form of the respective eyebrows. By the term "outer surface," there is meant the area of the hair carrier part in each case that is to be seen from outside, as it is represented in Figs. 1 and 2. The base part 1 as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5, has for each hair carrier part 2 to 4 a corresponding recess 5 to 7, into which the respective hair carrier part is detachably installed. The head hair carrier part 2, therefore, is installed in the recess 5, the beard carrier part 3 is installed in the recess 6 and the eyebrow parts 4 are installed in the recesses 7. Several projections such as 8 in the recesses 5 and 6 are formed into these recesses so as to engage into correspondingly formed depressions on hair carrier parts such as 9 on the head hair carrier part 2 and 9 on beard carrier part 3, when these parts are joined with the base part 1. Two further projections 10 on the lateral temporal parts 11 of the head hair carrier part 2 are engaged into correspondingly formed depressions 12 in the beard carrier part 3 when these parts are both used and disposed on the base part 1. The projections 8 and 10 and

the depressions 8 and 12, respectively, are provided within the outer surface of the hair carrier parts and are formed and dimensioned in such a way that they fit largely free of plan in one another, so that some pressure or pull hardly has to be expended to join them together or to separate them. These means also serve to center the hair carrier parts on the base part to align them relative to one another and to fix them easily in position.

Parts of the border surfaces of the recesses 5, 6 and 7 of the base part 1 and corresponding parts of the border surfaces of the respective hair carrier parts 2, 3, and 4 are conically formed in correspondence to one another, whereby there is promoted an exactly fitting seating of the hair carrier parts in the recesses. The eyebrow parts 4 are detachably inserted in the recesses 7, no projections and depressions being required in order to center and to fix the eyebrow parts 4 on the base part 1.

All the hair carrier parts 2 to 4 can be easily taken off the base part 1 and emplaced on it by hand.

Each hair carrier part 2 to 4 consists of a substantially form-stable body 13 which is glued to a surface corresponding to the haired outer surface of the respective hair carrier part with a flexible foil 14 (Figure 6), through which hair 15 is led, as is evident in Figure 6. The outer surface of the hair carrier parts, therefore, are formed by the outside of the flexible foil 14. The hair 15 is led obliquely through the foil 14, so that it comes at a shallow angle of about 10 out of the outer surface of the respective hair carrier part, as corresponds to the natural pilosity. The inner ends of the hair 15 are embedded into the adhesive layer 16 which firmly joins the foil 14 with the body 13 of the respective hair carrier part. The hair 15, therefore, is indetachably fastened to the foil 14 and consequently to the body 13 of the respective hair carrier

part. . The hairs can also be led through the foil 14 and tied, without embedding, whereby they are arranged to lie entirely flat, as corresponds to the natural pilosity on the sides of the head. In Figures 3 and 4 the foil 14 with the hairs 15 is not shown. In Figure 5 likewise the foil 14 with the hair 15 on the eyebrow part 4 is not shown.

The outer surface of each hair carrier part 2 to 4 has a border flush with or corresponding to the outer surface of the base part 1 at the upper edge of the respective recess 5 to 7, which upper edge bounds the outer surface of the base part 1. When the base part 1 and the respective hair carrier parts 2 to 4 are mated, there is, therefore, in every case a smooth and gap-free transition. Also the hair carrier part 2 and the beard carrier part 3 may be brought flush adjacent to one another on their outer surface at the two places in which they bound on one another.

Both the base part 1 and also the hair carrier parts 2 and 3 are hollow bodies, as is to be seen from Figures 3 to 5. The eyebrow parts 4, however, are constructed solid. Also the base part 1, like the hair carrier parts 2 to 4, is stable in form, and its body 17, like the bodies 13 of the hair carrier parts 2 to 4, is made of the same hard material, namely polyvinyl chloride.

The ears 28 fastened to the base part 1 are made flexible, so that as in the case of the living model, they can be bent over by the operator in the performance of a corresponding hair treatment, such as, for example, cutting.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-5, the base part 1 consists of a head part 19 with a face 3 and a hollow neck part 20 joined in one piece with this. The neck part 20 has in its lower end an opening 21 into which there is introduced a conical sleeve 22. The conical sleeve 22 has at its lower wider end a radial flange 23, the outside of which is_ flush with the edge surrounding the opening 21 of the neck part 20. The sleeve 22 is held in the neck part 20

by solidified foam 24 which fills the space between the outer surface of the part of sleeve 22 present in the neck part 20 and the inner wall of the neck part 20. The conical sleeve 22 is open at its lower, wider end and thus makes possible the introduction of a correspondingly shaped standard of a support (not represented) for the model head.

In use of the model head of the invention the hair carrier parts are changed for new ones when the hair no longer fulfills the requirement for a further hair treatment, for example if the hair is cut too short or has already been dyed so often that another dyeing no longer yields a satisfactory result.

In the example represented in Figures 1-5, the model head of the invention presents several hair carrier parts. The model head can, of course, also be executed in such a way that it presents only one hair carrier part such as, for example, the head hair carrier part 2. The beard carrier part 3 comes in question, of course, only in the case of model heads that serve for the execution of hair treatment techniques such as are used in the case of the man.

Moreover, in the modified embodiment of this invention shown in Figures 7-9, the detachably mounted beard carrier part 3 is not used. Rather, in this embodiment, the model head 100 consists of a base part 1, a hair carrier part 2 and a changeable face mask 30, both the hair-carrier part 2 and also the face mask 30 being in each case detachably installed in a recess in the base part 1. An upper border section of the face mask 30 and a front border section of the hair-carrier part 2 bound on one another, as is to be seen from Figure 7. As shown in Figure 8, the hair-carrier part 2 presents on its front border section a hook-shaped projection 4 which is constructed in one piece with the hair carrier part 2. A recess 15 is provided in a thickened part of the upper border section of the face mask 30. The recess 15 has a contour corresponding to the form of the hook-

shaped projection 4. In the assembled state the hook-shaped projection 4 engages into the recess 15 and is held fast therein. The hook-shaped projection 4 and recess 15 connection in this embodiment substitutes for the projection 9 and recess 8 shown in Figure 3 for purposes of connection. At the lower end of the face mask there is a hook- shaped projection 36 which is made in one piece with the face mask 30. In the base part 1 there is provided a recess 37, into which there engages the hook-shaped projection 36 in the assembled state of the model head. Inside the recess 37 the hook-shaped projection undercuts a shoulder 38 formed on the inside of the base part 1, as is to be seen from Figure 9.

All three parts 1, 2, and 30 of the model head are formed from polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which give the hook- shaped projections 4 a certain degree of flexibility and resiliency sufficient to snap them into the recesses 15 and 37 in the assembling of the model head 100 and to release them again in the removal of the particular face mask. The face mask 30 consists of a shell-form body, preferably from a thermoplastic material, whose free border 40 is twice bent inward, as is to be seen in Figure 9. By the double bending-off of the free border, 40 of the face mask 30, it acquires an extremely high stability of form. The hair-carrier part 2 , except for the hook-shaped projection 4, is identical with the hair-carrier part 2 shown in Figures 1-5. It consists likewise of a substantially form-stable body which is glued to the surface corresponding to the haired outer surface with a flexible foil (Figure 6), through which hairs are conducted. The outer surface of the hair-carrier part, therefore, is formed by the outside of the flexible foil.

Further, in the embodiment represented the hair is fastened to the hair carrier part with the use of a flexible foil. It is, of course, also possible to fasten the hair

directly to the body of the hair carrier parts by installing it in the wall of the body of the respective hair carrier part. Also possible is only a portion pilosity of the outer surface of the respective hair carrier part. The hair- carrier part can, in a manner known per se, be exchanged for a new one when the hair no longer fulfills the preconditions for a further hair treatment, for example if the hair is cut too short or has been dyed already so often that another dyeing no longer brings a satisfactory result. While the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, it is clear that other materials may be substituted for those described and similar means used to accomplish the same result so that the invention is only intended to be limited to the extent set forth in the claims herein.